Why Faith-Focused Read-Alouds are Important for Preschoolers

Are you looking for books to read aloud to your kids that will both entertain and grow their faith? Reading together as a family is one of my top discipleship methods of growing my children’s faith, and I have read a lot of books with my kids over the years. I have a list of 10 great faith-filled books that will be an amazing addition to your family library! These make great Christmas or Easter gifts, but are also perfect for everday.

There are so many reasons why reading together benefits your child and your family, and in the context of faith, these areas become even more important.

Books Teach and Reinforce Values

Do you want to help your child learn about kindness? Or what loving our neighbors looks like in real life? Reading picture books about these subjects will reinforce your discussions about topics you are currently facing in parenting.

Stories Bring the Bible to Life

Since the Bible took place a long time ago and in a different culture, it’s great to have picture books to show our kids a picture of what things might have looked like for the heroes of our Bible stories.

Quality time spent together thinking and talking about God will build the foundation of a life-long faith.

As parents, we have a Christian responsibility and duty to teach our children about God and faith. These books are a valuable resource in helping us accomplish what God wants us to do.

Ephesians 6:4 (GNT) says:

Parents, do not treat your children in such a way as to make them angry. Instead, raise them with Christian discipline and instruction.

What to Look For in a Picture Book

Picking the right book for your child’s age and understanding is important. For ages 2-4, focus on simple stories about God’s love, about treating each other well, and about Bible stories with appealing visuals for young children.

Board books will be more durable for this age group, and books should be simple and quick to read.

Looking at books for 5-6 year olds, you can introduce more complex stories, but still keep them easy to read and understand. You can start reading books about choices and consequences, and add more discussion of the book to your family reading time.

If you need more help finding the right book for each age of your child, see my Reading Milestones by Age post.

My Top 10 Picks for Faith-Filled Preschool Books

Title: The Beginner’s Bible 

What It’s About: The classic Bible stories written and illustrated for preschoolers.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: Each story is only a few pages long, easy to read, and features fun illustrations that will keep your child interested. The stories are especially written for young children, and feature a lot of the classic stories you would expect in a children’s Bible.

Title: God Gave Us You 

What It’s About: A young polar bear asks her mother, “Where did I come from?”, and his mother tucks him into bed with an important message: “We wanted you very, very much, and we are so very glad because—God gave us you.”

Why It’s Great for Your Family: This tender and sweet book is excellent for bedtimes, reassuring your child of both your love and God’s love for them. This book is available as a board book, hardback, and paperback. There is even a series of books that follow this one, if it becomes a favorite at your house!

Title: Bible Storybook from the Bible App for Kids 

What It’s About: This is another well-written compilation of Bible stories for young children. They are easy to read, and feature pictures that are entertaining and beautiful.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: This is a book version of The Bible App for kids, so it can be used beside that app or instead of the app. These stories will teach the timeless Bible stories in a way that appeals and is understandable for your children.

Title: The Friend Who Forgives

What It’s About: The story of Peter, who speaks before thinking, and how Jesus forgave him and will forgive us, too.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: This book is available as a hardback or a board book, and it is such a well-written book to teach forgiveness and the wonder of Jesus’ love for us.

Title: The Christmas Promise 

What It’s About: The Christmas story of Jesus being born, for us.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: Written in simple sentences, combined with amazing illustrations, this book will introduce kids to the first Christmas.

Title: Usborne Illustrated Bible Stories 

What It’s About: A Bible story collection for young children.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: This is a beautifully illustrated children’s Bible with stories from the Old and New Testament that will appeal to ages 2-6.

Title: The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross 

What It’s About: An overview of the salvation story throughout the Bible, especially for preschool/early elementary aged kids: God said “because of your sin you can’t come in”, but the moment the curtain tore in two, everything changed.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: I adore this book. It’s powerful and clear for all ages. It’s hard to explain why Jesus had to come to young children, but this book does an amazing job of making the whole Bible narrative make sense.

Title: Found 

What It’s About: A board book retelling of Psalm 23

Why It’s Great for Your Family: Colorful illustrations, beautiful words, and a reassuring message of God’s love and care for each of us. This is perfect for 0-4 years old.

Title: The Beginner’s Bible First 100 Bible Words

What It’s About: This is a first-words book, filled with Bible words and pictures.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: Perfect for 0-3 year olds, this book pairs bright colorful illustrations with simple words teaching word recognition. Using images from The Beginner’s Bible, the illustrations are cute and perfect for learning new words.

Title: Pop-Up Bible Stories

What It’s About: Introduces Bible stories is a 3-D way with pop-ups on every page.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: Fun, bright illustrations are engaging and children love the interaction of the pictures popping up with each page turn.

BONUS!

Title: Storm Trucks

What It’s About: Join Axel and his puppy as they face their fears during a loud thunderstorm.

Why It’s Great for Your Family: This story uses the fear of a thunderstorm to demonstrate imagination, compassion, and kindness. The surprise rainbow at the ending shows the hope that God gives us at the end of a storm.

Making Read-Aloud a Family Habit: Tips and Tricks

Do you struggle making storytime a part of your daily routine? With a little bit of encouragement and tips, you can set it up so that it’s not a chore, but the best part of your day! If you’d like a daily reminder and easy to follow tips and tricks for 30 days to help you build your new habit – sign up for to 30 Minutes for 30 Days Storytime Challenge emails. 

Also, check out Build a Family Reading Habit for more tips on how to build reading into your daily routine.